Outstanding Appeals Have Risen 60%, Placing Many Veterans in a Kind of Limbo That Can Last Years

The next secretary of Veterans Affairs will face well-known problems of mismanagement at VA hospitals and long waits for doctor appointments, but also will be confronted by an issue former Secretary Eric Shinseki hailed as a success: faster processing of disability claims.

Under Mr. Shinseki, the VA slashed the backlog for things such as compensation claims for injuries sustained while in the service. But that progress masked a 60%...